NASCAR’s “HotPass” a hot ticket for Daytona

First the disclaimer: I am not a NASCAR fan, but as a journalist I recognize auto racing’s entrance into mainstream sports. An event such as the Daytona 500 can draw interest outside the diehards (or, as they’re often called, gearheads).

So with the sports competition minimal Sunday I decided to watch, but it wasn’t the Fox broadcast. DirecTV offers “NASCAR HotPass” (I understand it also is available online), and Sunday was the free preview day. I have a good friend who is a Tony Stewart fan, so I watched virtually the entire race on the “Stewart Channel.”

If you’re a fan of a particular driver, there is no better way to watch a race.

First, you get three screens: the main broadcast feed (in this case from Fox), a view of the driver’s car, and the driver’s in-car camera. There are also three audio options: network, “HotPass” (where there are announcers reporting solely on the selected driver) and “Team Radio,” on which you can hear conversation between the driver and his crew.

“HotPass” focuses on four drivers for each NASCAR race — for Daytona, they were Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick — and has an additional channel offering team radio audio from 13 other drivers.

By staying on this channel, I knew not only where Stewart stood the entire race, but I could pick up on his race strategy and pit plans. You also got a steady look at his mph and rpm.

Some of the sounds I heard:

— After leading early in the race, Stewart complained about the car’s handling problems. “As soon as we get going fast, I cannot drive this thing at all.”

— Later, an update: “So far, it’s better. It’s a little tight, but at least the back’s on the race track. I can drive it now.”

— As the sun set, the announcers accurately figured that Stewart’s tire grip would improve, as did his position in the race. He was 25th at one point.

— Late in the race, even though he was leaving, Stewart insisted on a pit stop during a caution. “Listen to me, we’ve got to come take tires. We’ve got to tighten up. I can’t win like this.”

— Stewart, on teammate Kyle Busch’s rather erratic driving while in the lead: That was sick. It makes me want to throw up.”

— When Casey Mears crashed into the wall, trying to block Stewart, the man they call “Smoke” said, “You’re an idiot.” Unless he was watching “HotPass,” Mears didn’t hear him.

Unfortunately for Stewart fans, he couldn’t hold on despite leading heading into the final lap. After listening to both audio feeds, the “HotPass” announcers were much more in tune in what was happening on the final lap than the Fox crew — sort of like listening to your baseball team’s home announcers rather than a network feed.